The State of Hillary: A Mixed Record on the Job

She is the star of the Obama Cabinet and an international celebrity  and after nine months of staying out of the limelight, Hillary Clinton has arrived on the global stage. An intimate portrait of the diplomat and her world

It was Halloween night in Jerusalem, and Benjamin Netanyahu came dressed as a peacemaker. "We're prepared to start peace talks immediately," the notoriously reluctant Israeli Prime Minister proclaimed, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton standing at his side, poker-faced. "I think we should ... get on it and get with it."

It was a ploy, of course. The Palestinians were tangled up in themselves, yet again. They had elections looming, and their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, had to hang tough: he was demanding a total freeze to Israeli settlement-building on the West Bank  which was precisely what the...